Mythopoeic Awards

The Mythopoeic Awards for literature and literary studies are given by the Mythopoeic Society to authors of outstanding works in the fields of myth, fantasy, and the scholarly study of these areas.[1]

From 1971 to 1991 there were two awards, annual but not always awarded before 1981, recognizing Fantasy and Scholarship (Inklings Studies). Dual awards in each category were established in 1992: Fantasy Awards for Adult Literature and Children's Literature; Scholarship Awards in Inklings Studies and Myth and Fantasy Studies.[2] In 2010 a Student Paper Award was introduced.[3]

The 2013 finalists were announced in May and the awards were announced at the annual conference, July 12–15.[4]

The Fantasy Awards recognize single-author fantasy that "best exemplifies “the spirit of the Inklings”".[1] Dual awards for Adult and Children's Literature replaced a single award in 1992 and they have been combined once since then (1997). The Mythopoeic Society publishes a record of all finalists; from 1992 there are three to five books on each final ballot.[5]

An eligible book is a "novel, multi-volume novel, or single-author story collection" published during the preceding three years, although it may appear on the final ballot only once — a multi-volume novel when its last volume is published.[1]

Children's Literature is "books for younger readers (from “Young Adults” to picture books for beginning readers), in the tradition of The Hobbit or The Chronicles of Narnia." Books are allocated to one of the two categories by consensus.[1]

There are dual Mythopoeic Scholarship Awards since 1992 (and a Student Paper Award, not covered here, since 2010).[2][3] The Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies dates from 1971, in effect, if its name was expanded in 1992.

Scholarly works have three years to win the award once and may be on the final ballot three times.[1]